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Monday, February 8, 2016

Eric “LZ” O’Dwyer, a senior lieutenant stationed out of San Diego, is in command of his own helicopter detachment out of the HSM-75 Wolf Pack. Deployed off the coast of South America on a counterdrug operation, Eric jumps at the chance to take down a ruthless drug lord. But to do it, he’ll have to join forces with badass DEA Agent Nicole Gamboa. Infiltrating the drug lord’s mansion is crucial to the mission, and to pull it off, Eric and Nicole have to play out an intimate scene together that leaves them both reeling.

In the aftermath, Eric wants to foster something real with Nicole, but there is a secret part of Nicole’s life that makes a relationship impossible. The mission erupts again, and Nicole and Eric end up relying on each other in ways they’d never predicted. The stakes are raised to their highest when the drug lord gains the upper hand, and living or dying hinges on a final showdown between Nicole and her past…and whether Eric can get to her in time!

An exceptional story full of scorching hot romance and pulse-pounding action!

I have never read a hotter, more intense, almost-love scene EVER. As alluded to in the synopsis, Nicole and Eric have to play out an intimate scene as the cover for their real mission. Let me just say that the tension leading up to and the emotions surrounding that scene were just...so...WOW!!!

Tracy DEFINITELY knows how to write a sexy hero! Eric was absolutely perfect, with his good-looks, bravery and vulnerability.

Nicole was very realistic in every way; an independent career-woman who was forced to hide her softer side in order to survive in a male-dominated industry.

The imagery during the action scenes was absolutely phenomenal! I could clearly hear the helicopter blades rotating and feel the wind whipping.

The amount of research Tracy put into this book is absolutely remarkable. While I am no expert, the acronyms and lingo she inserted into the story added a realistic element to it. The unfamiliar words and phrases were accompanied by a convenient hyperlink that takes the reader to a glossary. I loved this, because the definitions weren't awkwardly inserted into the story.

(This book has a "prequel" titled Eightball Two-Three. While I feel this book can be read without reading Eightball, I do recommend reading it before this book!)

All in all, this is one of those books that I stayed up waaaaay too late reading and could not put down because it's THAT good. I couldn't get enough of this book, and I can't wait to read more in this series!!!!!!!

***I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

Nicole finished tying up the female hooker, then stood and quickly stripped out of her clothes, cleaning the sweat off her body with the towel she’d brought for that purpose. It seemed her perspiration returned the moment she swiped it away in the Colombian heat. She gave up and wriggled into her dress, eyeing the unconscious hooker’s high heels. She tugged them off the woman’s feet. “I’ll carry these,” she told O’Dwyer, dangling one with a broken heel in front of him. “The guards have no doubt noted our tardiness. We’ll need an excuse.”

“Good idea.” O’Dwyer had also finished his quick-change.

She started to go, but he grabbed her gently by the shoulder and turned her back around, taking hold of her other shoulder as he did. “You’re still panting a little,” he told her quietly. “Take a second, draw a breath, and let’s get focused.” O’Dwyer’s muscular chest expanded as he filled his own lungs. He exhaled, his breath drafting warmly past her. “I’ve got your back, and you’ve got mine. A team, right?”

She couldn’t believe the size of the lump that pushed into her throat. She’d done nothing but antagonize this man from the first moment she met him, not for anything he’d necessarily done, but for no better reason than because she was scared. Oh, the horrors of admitting that, but it was true. Of softness. Of failure. Of emotions. Of this mission…so many feelings that had somehow been magnified tenfold in the three days she’d known Lieutenant Eric O’Dwyer. But regardless of her pushing him, both verbally and physically, he was setting it aside to be a unit. She swallowed and nodded. “Absolutely.”

His expression eased into a smile. “Let’s do this thing, then.” He turned and headed for the gap in the bush.

Ensign Eric O’Dwyer is on the verge of graduating from naval flight training, with only one flight left to complete at training squadron HT-8 “Eighballers,” before he earns himself his wings of gold. The day of his final solo, Eric’s copilot, Ensign Kyle Hammond—a new student on his first hop in a helicopter—is to act as no more than a warm body…

Until everything goes horribly wrong.

Fresh from the cockpit of his near-death solo flight, Eric makes it to graduation, only to find that he is a lone man in a sea of his buddies’ celebrating relatives. He finds solace in the arms of a most unlikely woman the night before shipping out to San Diego…and learns more about himself than he ever planned.

**EIGHTBALL TWO-THREE is an introductory novella to the Wings of Gold series. It gives you an exciting glimpse of the men who will become the heroes of the first two full-length novels. This is not a complete romance story with a happily-ever-after…YET!

This book is absolutely fantastic!

I loved each and every word. From the intense, descriptive, action to the hilarious banter among the pilots to the smoking hot love scene, I thought this was an awesome intro to the Wings of Gold series. (It is just that; an introduction, leaving many unanswered questions which probably get answered in the next book, which I completely expected)

I am about to start the next book in the series, Beyond the Call of Duty, and I just know it's going to be AMAZING!!!

When a secret from Nicole Gamboa’s past is unearthed, will she be made to pay the ultimate price for the sins of another…?

One night at happy hour with her DEA buddies, Nicole disappears from a San Diego restaurant. As she’s dragged into a nightmare, it looks like her dreams of a future with Eric O’Dwyer are going to be shattered forever…or will help come from a most unlikely ally…?

**Credit for the naval officer on the eBook cover goes to Ryan from Fantasy Stock.

Tracy is the bestselling and award-winning author of gritty romance, her books spanning genres across paranormal (The Community series), military romantic suspense (The Wings of Gold series), and medieval historical (The Baron’s War trilogy). During nearly twenty-five years spent as a naval aviator’s wife, she lived all over the United States and in Europe, enjoying seven years overseas in the diplomatic community, first in Rome then in Madrid, until she settled back in San Diego. Tracy holds a master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling (MFCC), loves to play tennis, is a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and enjoys a good glass of wine. To learn more, please visit her website at www.tracytappan.

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